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Effective leadership expected from experienced Astros

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Astros manager Bo Porter met with a group of players prior to Wednesday morning's workout that he wants to take a leadership role on the club this spring. The meeting, which Porter dubbed "Astros Talk," included Jason Castro, Carlos Corporan, Jason Jaramillo, Erik Bedard, Bud Norris, Philip Humber, Lucas Harrell, Wesley Wright, Jose Veras and Edgar Gonzalez.

"We talked about leadership, and there's a reason why I picked those guys," he said. "Some of those guys have been on other teams where obviously it hasn't been the situation we have here where we have a lot of young guys, and a lot of times, these guys have been on teams and they have been the young guys.

"They now find themselves in a situation they become the older spokesmen. Like I said to them, I want to make sure we're all on one sheet of music and we understand what leadership is all about and how you can effectively lead. If they had any questions, I wanted to be available for them to answer those questions to make sure we're on one accord."

Most baseball teams don't have a captain as in some other sports. The Yankees are one team that has traditionally identified a singular captain. Porter doesn't plan to do that in Houston. Instead, he's giving the responsibility of leading the younger players to those with the most service time.

"I explained to them, 'We're not looking for one leader,'" Porter said. "We're looking for a group of leaders, because I'm a firm believer that leaders have to exist in every area, every level of the organization if you want the organization to continue to grow and continue to thrive. And the leaders have to develop the next wave of leaders. We're not looking for one; we're looking for a group."